Pillow Talk
by milestailsandco
Summary: Alternate Universe where Protag was sent to Inaba as a punishment from his parents and actually hated all of his social link buddies.
1. Damnation

She reached her hand to her mouth, taking a long drag of the cigarette that laid a little too relaxed between her fingers, and placed it back down on the ashtray resting on the bed a little further off. She stared up at the ceiling as she lay on the bed, her legs dangling off the side and her head hoisted up on the silver haired boy's bare lap. Occasionally she'd tilt her head to get a glance of his face right above hers- his chiseled, muscular chest and his sharp jawline- knowing she'd be able to successfully do it without him noticing as his mind was on the cash he was counting above her.

It wasn't a lot. She had explained when he was forced to leave the city, a lot of the "clients" switched buyers. Some of them didn't want to deal with a girl, some of them didn't want his parents to catch on and get them arrested. Others were just afraid when the big names started getting busted in the city and they switched to smaller sellers on the outskirts. Regardless, her sales continued slowly but steadily until he could return from his banishment to Nowheresville to hopefully save the business. He was good at saving things. Especially her.

Yu Narukami was his name, though he went by a lot of different aliases depending on where he was. When conversing with new buyers over the phone, he went by Kenpachi Ramasama. It was silly and it made her laugh every time she would be with him and he would introduce himself as that, especially if she was grasped onto him in public or if they were naked in her bed. To customers he met in person, he went by Souji Seta. This title also went with a persona he adapted to intimidate potential thieves or people trying to take his girl away, complete with dark apparel and a gun. Few people knew him by Yu, but they were his most trusted acquaintances and, regrettably, his family.

"Smoking is bad for you," he scolded, not even flinching or looking down.

She smirked and took another drag, returning her hand to the tray and blowing it away from him. It was a nasty habit, she admitted, and she picked it up when he was gone, but she wouldn't admit that he was the reason she did. "Says the dealer."

"Yeah, I deal, I don't smoke any of it." He was very invested in his counting and didn't want to get involved in lengthy conversation, she could tell. He probably should have considered that before opening his mouth, then.

The girl stomped her cigarette into the tray multiple times which put it out, releasing a small puff of smoke, and raised herself from her laying position, making sure to avoid Yu's hands. She grabbed the tray off of the bed and walked over to her dresser, putting the tray down. She looked into the mirror right above her dresser and noticed him eyeing her up- thinking he couldn't see her.

She knew he was coming back today and she had hoped he would come to see her first, so she elected to wear her brand new black-and-red lacey panty and push up bra set to greet him with. All it took was a little bending over with her flirty skirt for him to get a little sneak peek and send him into a lustful mess, pulling her onto the bed and having his way with her. Judging by his inability to keep his hands off of her earlier and now his need to distract himself from counting, she picked well. Of course she did, though. She knew him probably better than he knew himself.

She turned around slow enough for him to think he got away with the peeking and crawled back into her bed, choosing to sit up and face him rather than lay by him. His eyes remain on his stack of bills. She cleared her throat to get his attention and he ignored her. She expected nothing else. "Let's talk," she said perkily, twisting her head and letting one of her pigtails (his idea) fall onto her shoulder.

"I'm counting," he responded in his normal monotone cocky smug little sh-

"Well, stop." The girl reached her hand out and touched his hand gently. She had hoped it was enough to get his attention but not enough to break his concentration and send him into a fit of passive-aggressive rage. "You can count later. I wanna talk now… Please?" she sounded a little needier, knowing that it was his weakness.

He took a deep breath and finished the last of his stack, wrapping it up with a rubber band and tossing it behind him, successfully getting it in the box that all of the other counted money was in. "Okay, fine. Let's talk." He outstretched his arms, welcoming her to sit on his lap and join him. She complied happily, crawling into his arms and sitting in his lap. She grabbed his hands with her own and crossed his arms so she could hold them properly and feel like he was protecting her. In return for her feeling of security, he got to feel lacy panties on his upper legs and a lacy bra touching his arms. "What do you want to talk about?"

She smiled and brought up one his hands to her mouth, kissing it gently. "Tell me about Een- um… wherever you were. Who did you stay with? What did you do? Did you make any friends?"

"I stayed with my uncle and it was… weird. His wife died in a hit and run a while back and he won't get over it. I almost pitied him. He had a young daughter. She was really great. I'd love to have a kid like her one day." Her stomach fluttered. "What did I do? I solved a murder case that was actually done by a police officer, hopped into the television, and fought a God to save the world."

She snickered and leaned back into him, bringing his hug with and kissing his jaw. "Oh shut up," she cackled. He knew she wouldn't believe him, but it was worth a shot. She tended to believe every other word that came out of his mouth.

"As for friends… I didn't really make any. They all thought I was some sort of heroic figure to look up to."

"Oh?" she asked, her interest genuinely peaked.

He nodded and squeezed her hand. "The first guy I met was an absolute loser that was obsessed with me. He must have never had a real friend, which makes sense because the guy was pathetic. He was clumsy and obnoxious and wouldn't get over the fact that the girl he liked was a whore that ran away to be with some guy. Then there were these two girl best friends, one of which I was afraid would cut my throat in the middle of the night and the other had this stupid tomboy façade to hide her desire to be in control of everything. Being in the same room with them together was miserable and painful. Then there was this guy that didn't even know how to be a guy and thought he could pass it off by being brutal and act like a biker. He was hopelessly obsessed with this girl who he thought was a guy but in actuality she was just a wimp and afraid to be herself so she dressed up like a guy or whatever stupid shit. There was also this weird kid that said a bunch of dumb bear puns all the time. He's probably going to get hit by a car one day."

She chuckled again at his dislike of everyone in the group. He got away with it so often because of his ability to keep a straight face and remain calm through every situation. She envied him for this and wished she, too, could be a living pokerface.

"Then," he began again with a dramatic sigh, "there was this nurse that got aroused when I would reject her, a worthless detective with a cabbage fetish, an old lady that called herself death to make people feel sorry for her, some guy whose sister died so he tried to act all strong when he was just a wimp, some girl that had serious daddy issues until he died, and a guy who had mommy issues because he was adopted."

"That sounds insane!"

He nodded. "And Risette was there too."

"You're so full of shit!"

"I swear! I have pictures! She was clingy as hell, though. It was kinda hot. I could do whatever to her and she would be all in. She was such an easy score."

Her heart stopped. She knew he wasn't entirely monogamous, but she knew she couldn't compete with a big idol. Her grip released a little on his hands and, in response, he squeezed hers tighter.

"I came back for you, you know," he whispered. "Inaba was insane, and it was a lot of fun to let everyone think I was their friend, but it wasn't as good as you."

"But you don't love me," she responded with a hint of sadness. She had to muster up all of her strength to not let her hurt show.

This had been a discussion they had plenty of times. He cared for her, but he did not love her. Maybe he would marry her one day to get his family off of his back or to look like a normal every day guy, but his heart did not beat faster because of his love for her. He would fuck her under a candlelight, he would buy her expensive gifts, he would hold her hand in public and not let anyone else by her, but he did not love her. And for all he knew, she did not love him as well. She was just lonely and desperate.

"Of course not," he responded happily while detaching his hand from hers and reaching to cup her breast. "That would make things weird. You're my partner in crime."

* * *

She had always thought he had the sweetest sleeping face. All of the bitterness and arrogance locked in his heart seemed to melt away the second he closed his eyes. When a gentle smile grew across his face, she considered dropping the backpack and crawling back into her bed with him- forgetting this stupid idea and staying with the boy that just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

'Of course I don't love you.'

Those six words echoed in her head.


	2. Shallow Core

"Miss?" A gentle voice grabbed her attention, pulling her vision to the right and breaking her from staring at the seat in front of her. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm supposed to be in the seat next to you. Can I squeeze through?"

She nodded once and pulled her legs onto her seat, allowing the well-dressed, slender boy inch past her. When he was in the clear, she slid her legs back down to the ground and leaned her head far back into the chair, allowing her thoughts to drift away with her consciousness.

* * *

She jolted awake from her nap, her eyes snapping open when her hand slipped out from under her chin. After a few seconds of exiting sleep mode, her fuzzy vision finally cleared to fix on the seat tray in front of her with a cup of clear liquid, a muffin, and a bag of peanuts sitting atop it. She looked around with confusion fueled by drowsiness for an explanation.

"The flight attendant came by and asked if we wanted anything, but you were sleeping. I ordered you something so you wouldn't be sad when you woke up. It's a long trip."

She turned her head slowly to the person sharing a section with her. A younger male with a sweet, soft voice. His chestnut choppy hair looked naturally styled yet still clean along with the white name-brand t-shirt he had on. She was surprised he could even see her as his head was tilted downwards at what she assumed was his iPod.

"Thanks," she responded blandly and reached her hand out to the pastry.

* * *

Every time she closed her eyes, she dreamt of the silver-haired boy finding her when she landed. He would be waiting at the terminal right when she left the plane, or he'd be waiting in her hotel room sitting on her bed. Regardless of where, he always had the same bored-yet-disappointed expression painted on his face. "After all we've been through?" he would say, approaching her with his hand out to touch her face. "You're acting so childish. The world isn't a fairytale. We're all grown ups here, we should act like it."

She decided it would be best to try and stay awake.

* * *

The girl passed the time staring at the chair in front of her, occasionally glancing over at the boy in the seat next to her.

To say he was acting strange would be an understatement. Initially, he was staring at the chair in front of him as well. He would have a blank expression and just one earbud in his ear. As the flight went on, he leaned more onto the window of the plane and began watching something on his iPod. He kept himself pulled together and didn't stretch out or take up too much space.

And when the attendant walked by to collect all the garbage, he hung his head and let his hair cover his face.

The girl waited until the attendant walked away and opened her mouth to talk, delivering her recently guessed theory to him. "Running away, huh?"

"Huh?"

"You're young. You're obviously well off because of the clothes you're wearing, yet you only brought a small backpack. You're smiley and radiate energy, but tense up whenever one of the attendants looks at you for longer than a second, like they're going to spot you and take you back home. You keep squirming like you have to use the bathroom but you're either too afraid to ask me to move or you're too afraid of the attendant seeing you. This is a long flight and you haven't slept yet, nor do you look like resting any time soon. You're too young to move to another country by yourself and you don't have enough luggage to be on vacation. So what's the deal?" She reclined in her seat and closed her eyes with a smirk on her face. "Daddy didn't give you money for cleaning your room? Mommy didn't let you go to a party?"

He blinked twice in surprise, but she wasn't sure if he was surprised at her rude comment or surprised at her outlandish guess. He took in a small breath and lowered his voice. "Have you ever built up your whole life and personality around something that ended up being lies?"

The smirk across her face slowly dropped and her eyes fluttered open, but she continued to stare at the chair in front of her as the boy next to her spoke. *His* face burned in her mind.

"My whole life I was always the friendly one... always the one with a smile on my face. And yeah, I would tease my friends... but it was never mean-spirited. I cared for so many people, but everything was so shallow. Like people were my acquaintances, but never my best friends, or my partners. It was so... lonely. When my family moved, I met this girl. She glowed even in the rain. She always looked so mellow and calm, but always smiled at me and was so friendly. I felt like I might have met someone that actually felt how I did. I thoug- heh... I thought she cared about me too. I loved her... I... still love her."

Her heart warmed. She turned to face the boy and look him in the eye, but he and his head sulked down facing his lap.

"But as it turns out she was only nice to me because I was the managers' son." A pained laugh escaped his lips. "In fact, she thought I was desperate and annoying. She already had a boyfriend too that she planned to run away with I guess. Once again it all fell flat... and I didn't even find this all out until after she was..." He swallowed. "Gone...

And then I met this guy. I was so jealous of him. Wherever he went people flocked to touch his heart and he touched theirs without even trying... He automatically built relationships with people that I knew months before he did. He was charismatic and friendly but still stoic and in charge. And over time, we bonded too. My envy turned into appreciation. I aspired to be like him in every way. I watched his every move and couldn't understand how he could be so... emotionless but still have so much power. I opened my heart to him and he took me in and bettered me. He let me believe there is value in relationships and that I wasn't out of my mind.

Until one day I jokingly looked over at his phone while he was texting someone that I didn't recognize about how annoying I was. How desperate and clingy I was. When he caught me looking, he tried to play it off like he was kidding, but I'm not an idiot. From then on, I watched him from afar. I saw all the little twitches in his eyes when he would lie with a smile on his face, I saw the smirks on his face when he would leave Rise's or any of the other girls' houses, I saw it all. And I decided that once he left, I would too. They'd be too busy mourning over him going back to the city that they wouldn't have the time or concern to pretend to worry about me too. I left a note for my parents saying I was going to go "find myself", used some money I had saved for a ticket and a student visa and boarded without looking back."

The boy turned his head to face her with his red, puffy eyes. All of the energy in his body wisped away with his words. He appeared sullen, like he hadn't slept in days. She wondered if she was the first person he's spoken to verbally about his situation or if she was just the first to listen, but something was very different about the boy that walked past her and the boy sitting next to her now.

He reminded her of herself. When her mother became ill and the hope in her eyes faded away as her dad turned to alcohol and violence. When he didn't approve of the new silver-haired boyfriend she had brought home and loved. When that boy promised her safety and love, but waited until after she had moved into an apartment he paid for- after she had already fallen- to tell her that he was incapable of love. Everything he did was shallow, and she tried for so long to try to change him...

But people's cores cannot be changed.

"What was your name again?" she asked sincerely.

He cleared his throat. "It's Yosuke. I don't think you told me yours."

"I didn't. What are you listening to?"

"Huh? Oh uh..." A small, shamed smile tiptoed onto his face. "Nickelback. I know people like to make fun of them but... I like them."

"Is that an American band?" He nodded. "Can I listen too, since the other earbud isn't being used anyway?" She spoke slowly and softly, looking him in the eyes with every word that left her mouth.

He looked her in the eyes, trying to get a read on her, and reached down to his other earbud, handing it off to her. When she took it, he reached down to the iPod in his lap and pressed the play button.

"Do you want to play video games, Yosuke? I have that Nintendo system from my ex. We could play Pokemon or something if you have one too. You seem the type to like video games."

He smirked, trying to suppress a grin, but was unable to contain it anyway. He reached down into his backpack and exclaimed, "all guys love games!"

"Be gentle, I'm still new at this." She reached underneath her chair, tugging on the earbud cord, and pulled out her backpack as well.

"I can teach you, then! We've still got over ten hours of this flight to go."

"I've got even longer, since I'm not getting off at the first stop."

* * *

Yosuke's eyes opened half-way, surprised to find himself with one arm wrapped around the strange girl and her head on his chest as she slept. When did they fall asleep? How much longer did they have? Slowly, he pulled the blanket sitting between the seat and the window out from its hiding spot and laid it over the both of them, leaning his head on hers and closing his eyes again.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to LAX. The time is 3:04PM and it is a cool but comfortable 63 degrees. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated-"

"Well, I guess this is it." Yosuke whispered. "Thanks for talking to me today."

The girl nodded, took a deep breath and leaned forward, pulling her backpack out from under the seat again and stuffing her small bag of peanuts into the top pocket, zipping it shut. After a few minutes went by, when Yosuke stood up along with everyone else, the girl grabbed her backpack and stood up as well, slinging it onto her shoulder.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Yosuke stuttered. "You said you don't get off on this stop."

"You're not cut out for this."

"What?! You don't know me! I can handle it!" he exclaimed, revolted at her sudden betrayal.

"Even though you wouldn't look at the girls in the eyes, they would have left a lot faster had you not ordered anything for me too. You aren't selfish enough or brave enough to say no. You wear your heart on your sleeve. You're vulnerable... But I am also vulnerable. You are the most sincere person I've met, and I've met a lot of people. I can still see the hope in your eyes when it has faded on everyone else. I'm getting off here... and I'm coming with you. ...If you would let me."

His furrowed brows fell and his cheeks grew red. A small smile formed across his lips.

And maybe one day she would tell him about how she was hurt by the same guy.


End file.
